LA federal judge rejects bid to halt foie gras ban

A Los Angeles federal judge has denied an emergency bid to halt California's ban on the sale of foie gras.

City News Service reports U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said Wednesday that the matter isn't urgent and a hearing will be set for next month.

The lawsuit was brought by a Canadian exporter of the fattened liver delicacy, a foie gras producer based in New York and a Southern California restaurateur, Hot's Restaurant Group.

The delicacy prepared by force-feeding ducks and geese was banned in California July 1.

The lawsuit claims California's ban is written so broadly that it also applies to skins, feathers and other by-products of ducks raised primarily for foie gras, and violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause by affecting companies from outside the state.